Fulham head coach Scott Parker believes his side will on Sunday face their “toughest test” when they host Premier League champions Liverpool.
Parker’s men have shown signs of fight and promise in recent weeks after an abysmal start to the season.
A surprise win away at Leicester last month – only their second of the campaign – lifted their points tally to seven, which, for now, keeps them out of the relegation zone, and they were by no means disgraced when losing 2-0 to Manchester City last weekend.
However, with Liverpool looking back to their best when thrashing Wolves 4-0 on Sunday, Parker has no doubts about the size of this weekend’s task.
“I think it’s a tough test, arguably the toughest test of the year for the defenders,” he said.
“The three or four players – Jota, Salah, Mane and Firmino – they’re top class who bring a different dynamic to most teams in the sense (they) look to run the space, get in behind you, get in on the counter, the speed, pace.
“So it’s going to have to be a big game from our defence at the weekend and they’re going to come up against a real hard test.
“There’s always tests in this division that they’ve come up against before and executed, so it’s a big challenge which I’m looking forward to seeing.”